The Congress and the J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are at odds over the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Omar recently slammed Congress’ selective criticism of the EVMs, saying the party can’t celebrate when it gets 100 MPs using the same machines and then find fault with them when it loses polls. This has drawn a sharp reaction from the Congress, otherwise an ally of Omar’s party, National Conference. The party has clarified that Samajwadi Party (SP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) have also voiced concerns over EVMs. More tellingly, the Congress MP Manickam Tagore has accused Omar of taking on their “partners” after “being chief minister.” Incidentally, Omar’s statement was cited by the BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya as proof that there was nothing wrong with EVMs.
However, the controversy over EVMs apart, the incident reveals the ongoing rumblings within the INDIA bloc. More so, after the stunning defeat of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra. This was the second successive setback to the INDIA bloc after Haryana, and came after the alliance spectacularly denied the BJP an absolute majority in the general elections. Ever since, the INDIA bloc has struggled to retain its gains. On the contrary, the BJP is back in the driving seat and looks set to further cement its dominance.
This has naturally caused strains in the INDIA Alliance with some partners questioning the Congress’ leadership of the bloc. As Omar rightly said, the Congress has to earn its place as the leader of the political grouping. It can’t lose election after election and still command the following of opposition parties. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sought to lead the bloc and she has been supported in this by some other constituent parties. Having been elected successively for the third time as the chief minister of West Bengal, Banerjee deserves to be the leader of the opposition alliance. And Congress should certainly back her. The party should learn the lesson from the exit of the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the run up to the national polls early this year. Had he been given responsibility to steer the INDIA bloc, the alliance might very well have been in power. Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United) went on to win 22 seats in Bihar which would have brought the opposition closer to majority figure of 272. Going forward, the opposition parties, particularly the Congress, need to rethink not just their election strategy but also the political narrative they need to craft to take on the might of the BJP. The alternative is a fragmented opposition, unable to present a united front, thereby ensuring continued dominance for the BJP.
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